Kate Middleton

Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

Could Peter Cosgrove be Australia's last governor-general? Any speculation is purely wishful thinking on my part, and I have Kate Middleton to thank for that.

While the republican debate in Australia is certainly not dead, it is currently gasping for breath - and by my completely unscientific calculations, the Duchess of Cambridge has also been set back about 15 years.

In the 1990s, a republic seemed not only possible, but almost entirely inevitable by the turn of the 21st century. And yet we have woken up in 2014 with a vast majority of Australians who prefer their head of state to be unelected and live on the other side of the world (which is strange, considering the growing uneasiness a lot of us seem to have with people born overseas, but I digress).

Two decades ago, some republicans were so convinced we were headed for a break-up with the Commonwealth that they abstained from voting on the bi-partisan appointment of president model at the constitutional convention, thinking another referendum would come along with the right government election model. Years of a successful long-term conservative government followed and just as republicans were starting to float their daring dream again, Kate appeared, clad in white lace with her beautiful glossy mane and - most damaging for Australian republicanism - looking happy.

I have no problem with Kate herself, aside from being quietly creeped out by a world so infatuated with a woman who has never said more than a few hundred words - in total - in public. But with Australians' infatuation with her growing with every magazine cover showing her dimpled smile and cute baby, republicanism in Australia is destined to be a fringe issue for quite some time.

She not only brings some glamour to the royals, she is bringing with her the appearance of functionality to the family (which is always a myth, no family with more than three people is functional). As long as the royal family looks solid and stable, the average Australian seems to be able to look at them and say "yep, our legislation should definitely be assented to by a representative of that lot".

An ABC compass poll put the support for the republic at 38% last October. 38%! More people probably believe the NSA are only watching them play Angry Birds to unlock the Halloween level. Interestingly, the poll found more young people than old people supported staying within the Commonwealth.

Allowing for apathy in the number, as with any issue, there is a portion who just do not care either way, it still boggles the mind that so many people are pro-monarchy for Australia. Our own outgoing governor-general supports the abolishment of her position and according to Paul Keating, so do the royal family. Because really, what arguments are there to remain a constitutional monarchy?

Sports-wise we'd only lose participation in second rate competitions, such as the Commonwealth Games. We would still have the Ashes, and something that takes away a taunt from the Barmy Army can only be a good thing. Becoming a republic would provide a day to celebrate this country which would include all citizens, rather than what is a traumatic anniversary for Indigenous people.

The republic discussion is one that goes to the core of our identity. Is it Australian to have a head of state who is born into the position rather than earns it? Is it Australian to have a foreign power's flag on our own flag? Is it Australian for it to be virtually impossible for someone born in this country to achieve its highest ranked official position?

The Republican movement is not dead in Australia, but since April 2011 the concept of Australia as a truly independent and free country has slipped further out of grasp and until Kate Middleton farts in public, or gains 15kg, or does anything remotely human, an Australian republic may stay a distant dream.